The Freedom of Movement of Persons is one of the four fundamental freedoms underpinning the European project as a whole.

Yet in recent times, several Governments have been calling for measures to restrict this freedom, using unsubstantiated arguments of the negative impact of free movement on their social systems.

It is in response to these developments that we are advocating for7 Strategies to Improve Free Movement to call on the European Institutions to take seven concrete steps to ensure that freedom of movement rights are fully respected and enforced throughout the EU.

The seventh strategy calls on a pro- free movement counterfactual be developed to refute anti-migrant rhetoric.

The combination of enlargement of the EU, the ongoing financial crisis and disenchantment with mainstream politics has led to populist politicians making false claims about the free movement of persons in the EU and calling for withdrawal from the EU in order to re-assert control over migration policy. Regrettably, this vitriolic rhetoric has resonated with parts of the electorate in certain EU countries, as evidenced by the sizeable number of Eurosceptic politicians elected to the European Parliament. The worrying result – at least in the UK – is that mainstream politicians have started to echo the anti-migration policies advocated by these populist politicians.

Who we are

This campaign is launched by the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) in the framework of the EU Rights Clinic and it is supported by a wider network of organisations and practitioners asking the European Institutions to protect and improve free movement of persons in Europe.

The European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) is an international non-profit organization, based in Brussels with a pan-European membership and 22 years of experience. It provides services to a network of about 150 civil society organizations and citizens on EU citizens’ rights enforcement and civic participation in the EU decision-making process.

The EU Rights Clinic is a not-for-profit service launched in January 2013 in collaboration with the University of Kent in Brussels. It helps EU migrants and their family members overcome problems they encounter when moving within the EU.

Why this Campaign

The free movement of persons is one of the cornerstones of the EU’s Single Market and is a right deeply cherished by citizens in Europe today.

This campaign is a response to the recent and unprecedented calls made by several governments for imposing further restrictions on the free movement of people based on unsubstantiated claims about the impact of the EU rules. In order to counter these accusations, we believe that it is important to seize the initiative and propose measures aimed at ensuring that the free movement rules can work better for all EU citizens.

We are therefore launching the Right to Move campaign based on seven strategies to improve the free movement of persons in the EU:

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